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Monday, December 30, 2013

On To The Next

"Paralyze resistance with persistence." - Woody Hayes

Yesterday, The Ohio State University Buckeye football team landed in Miami. On Friday they face the Clemson Tigers in the Orange Bowl. Earlier in the season, they took a harsh defeat at the hands of Michigan State. I'm sure they were saddened, stunned even, by their loss to the Spartans, but they were not defeated in the larger sense of the word. Instead of stopping in their tracks, they kept moving in preparation for the next contest. They lived to play another day.

I'm going to use the Buckeye attitude as my writing strategy. I've had my share of defeats. It's been a while since I've put myself on the agent firing line or ventured into the editorial slush pile, but I like this thought of moving on and heading into the next adventure without feeling like a loser. Our Buckeyes just keep moving. So will I.

Is it really a defeat if you're still standing when it's over? Doesn't it just mean the time wasn't right? Perhaps it wasn't the right book or the book wasn't done or I wasn't ready for what came next. On we go. On to the next. In the interim, the writing itself is the reward.

3 comments:

What a great piece Nita! I really enjoyed the comparison you made with the Buckeyes. As far as I am concerned the Buckeyes are never losers even when an individual game is lost. They are the best team in college football as far as I am concerned. Neither are you a loser or less than anyone else. I liked what you said about the joy comes from the actual writing itself, and is true.